1. Field
The present technology relates to thrust reversers for jet engines. More particularly, embodiments of the technology involve a thrust reverser with a reduced-profile cascade element.
2. Related Art
Airplanes powered by jet engines have high landing speeds, which can place a heavy burden on the planes' wheel brakes and tires during landing runs. To reduce this burden, most jet-driven airplanes are provided with means to reverse the direction of flow of the jet stream during landing runs to produce a reverse thrust, thus slowing the airplane with the jet engines as opposed to the wheel brakes.
Many different types of thrust reversers have been developed for this purpose, all based on the principle of blocking rearward flow of the jet stream and diverting the jet stream flow laterally, forwardly, or both. One type of thrust reverser, called the cascade type, uses a cascade element comprising an array of stacked or “cascading” arcuate vanes to direct fluid flow forwardly of the engine. During normal operation of the engine, the cascade element is covered to prevent air from passing through the thrust reverser. The cascade element is uncovered during thrust reversing operations and a fluid stream is directed through the cascade element, thereby producing reverse thrust.
It may be desirable to reduce the size or weight of the thrust reverser where, for example, the overall size or weight of the jet engine is to be reduced. Unfortunately, reducing the size of the thrust reverser is challenging because the thrust reverser needs to be sufficiently large and durable to handle the fluid stream of the jet engine. Thus, there is a need for an improved thrust reverser that does not suffer from the limitations of the prior art.